Snakes, Hammers, and Screws
by Lialane Graest
Summary: They both want him, for different reasons. Only one of them will have him, only one can be the victor. The man has no say in the matter, the two women will fight it out between themselves, and to the winner will go Dr. Franken Stein. MariexStein; OneSided!MedusaxStein


Her strangled screams had woke him the last four nights running. Each night he had stayed in bed, watching her wavelength eventually settle as the woman slipped back into a fitful sleep, and each morning the circles under her eyes had grown darker. That was why tonight, when the inevitable scream ripped through the night, Stein stood and slipped out into the dark hallway and padded silently over to her door, turning the knob and pushing the door open without knocking.

Marie sat in the middle of the bed, her knees pulled up to her chest, sobs hiccupping out of her as she buried her face in a pillow. She didn't even realize that he had entered her room until he had taken the pillow from her and pulled her awkwardly into his arms. The sobs came harder after he did and he sat there, letting her cry whatever it was out against his chest. In a gesture that he had never shown anyone he carefully smoothed her hair as he waited for her to calm down.

Eventually the sobbing died away, the woman relaxing in his arms, her breathing evening out. Her head lay cushioned against his chest, the woman fast asleep. Carefully he lowered her back into the bed, noting that the interruption to his sleep with the variation in the routine was considerably shorter, about half the time it had taken her to calm down and sleep before on her own. Pulling the stitched blanket up over her shoulders, Stein walked back to his room and collapsed in bed, sleep claiming him quickly.

* * *

The next morning dawned and Stein became aware of the smell of coffee and bacon wafting through the air. He descended the stairs and found breakfast made and waiting on him, Marie nowhere to be found. He picked up the plate and poured himself some coffee before wandering into his research lab. He ate as he read another study related to the current experiment he was working on, scoffing at the conclusion the other researcher had come to.

Shaking his head Stein stood and took his plate and cup back to the kitchen, intent on procuring another cup of coffee when he walked right into Marie. They both fell, and the plate slipped from his grasp, shattering when it impacted with the concrete flooring. He watched a thin line of blood appear on the back of Marie's hand; a shard of the broken plate had obviously caught her.

"Let me see the wound, Marie." Stein said, reaching for her hand. He could feel the nervousness in her soul and sighed inwardly, wondering what it could be that was bothering her so much. She let him look at it and he tugged gently on it. "I need to clean it, though I'm certain that it won't need stitches."

A look of relief crossed her face and Marie followed him into the research lab. She winced slightly when he poured the antiseptic over it, cleaning the wound and making sure that it didn't need stitches. He settled for a large bandage.

Still holding her injured hand he looked into her eye. "Now then, tell me what's been waking you the last five nights in a row."

Marie paled, pulling her hand away from him. "I'm sorry I woke you, Franken."

Stein shrugged. "I don't care that you've woke me, I'm just curious as to what is waking you." He leaned back in his chair and lit a cigarette, the mess in the hallway forgotten for the moment. He took a deep drag of it and smirked, holding it out to Marie. She just shook her head and stood.

His hand caught her wrist before she could leave. "Marie, I don't think you understand. I wasn't asking you to tell me, I was telling you to." He looked up at her and could see the tears welling in her visible eye.

"Franken… it's nothing. It's just a bad dream and it'll pass." Her voice was shaking slightly as she tugged against his hand; he just tightened his grip on her wrist.

"Then tell me the dream." His free hand returned the cigarette to his mouth and he breathed in the smoke slowly, exhaling through his nose. His eyes seemed to bore into her eye, and she found the tears falling. To her amazement he stood, wrapping long arms around her, the cigarette dropped to the concrete floor and stomped out.

The previous night flashed through her mind and she realized that it hadn't all been a dream. Sobs tore through her then and she buried her face against his chest. She could feel the same motion as the night before, Stein's left hand slowly running through her hair, gently removing tangles, smoothing it down.

"_Shh…"_ She could hear the escape of wind from his lungs as he hushed her sobs. _"Shh…"_ It took a long minute before the tears stopped and she pulled away from him, her head hanging towards the floor.

"Marie, tell me." Stein's voice was gentle as he slipped a finger under her chin, forcing her to look up at him.

Her voice was quiet and full of pain as she told him the dream she had been reliving.

_Marie stood hesitantly in the front of the crowd, her long ball gown trailing behind her, people stepping all over the dress' train. The white dress was tattered, the sequins that had adorned it long gone. In front of her Stein stood with Medusa, the witch's hand entangled with his, neither of them able to see Marie._

_She screamed and screamed, beating against the glass that separated her from them, forced to watch as Medusa finally, slowly, turned to look at her, the witch's eyes gleaming wickedly as she toyed with a ring on her finger. Stein wore a matching ring on his finger, and a sadistic grin was painted across his face._

_As Marie watched from her glass prison Stein and Medusa danced across the room, the partygoers dying as they passed. Some fell, scalpels embedded in their throats or chests. Others had limbs severed by vectors. Regardless of how they died, each left a glowing blue soul behind that one or the other of the newlyweds devoured, each soul causing their forms to shift a little bit further away from who they were._

_Finally Medusa stopped in front of Marie's prison and made a grand sweeping gesture towards it. "My wedding present to you, my husband."_

_Stein's face was almost unrecognizable as he grinned sadistically. "Thank you, my love." He tapped against the glass with the scalpel in his hand and it shattered. A moment later he had Marie in his arms, his scalpel buried in her stomach, twisting and turning._

"… and then I wake up." Marie finished quietly, looking down at the floor.

"Marie, Medusa is dead. Even if she wasn't, she was a witch, obviously corrupted by the sway of magic. I would never go with her. I would never choose her for anything other than a test subject. She would be the one that I would be eviscerating, not you." His words were gentle, and his hand on her shoulder was meant to be comforting and reassuring.

To Marie, they sounded hollow. They were words that she had already told herself, and they had failed to comfort the death scythe then. With her eye full of tears she looked up at Stein. "What if she isn't dead, Franken?"

"Spirit and I finished her, her soul was even destroyed, Marie. You have nothing to fear. I'm not going anywhere." He pulled her into his arms again and she stood there for a long while, breathing in the smell of cigarette smoke and antiseptic.

Stein could see the fear that remained in her soul though, and he twisted the screw slowly, wondering what he could do to prove to her that there was nothing to worry about.

* * *

**A/N: So a while back I wrote a fic entitled "I am Yours"; it was about Medusa and Marie's rivalry over Stein. I wanted to flush it out and this is the beginning of that. Not sure how long this will be.**

**I don't own Soul eater.**


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